Posted in Flora, Gardens, Parks & Plazas, Signs, Travel & Tourism, tagged closed signs, Conzatti, coronavirus fallout, COVID-19 fallout, El Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo, empty streets, flamboyantes, Jardín Conzatti, Llano Park, Mexico, Oaxaca, Parque Juarez El Llano, photos on May 11, 2020| 4 Comments »
Sunday morning’s walk found empty streets…
Looking south on Calle Macedonio Alcalá.
Looking north on Calle Macedonio Alcalá.
Closed parks…
Jardín Conzatti.
“Parque Cerrado” – Parque Juarez El Llano.
And, beauty.
Templo de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo seen from the atrium of Templo Santo Domingo de Guzmán.
Flamboyant trees from the atrium of Templo Santo Domingo de Guzmán.
Yesterday, there were 25 new Covid-19 cases in the state of Oaxaca, including the first two in Tlacolula de Matamoros.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Basho quote, cactus flowers, Epiphyllum hookeri, haiku, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photos, plants on April 21, 2020| 8 Comments »
Spring morning marvel
lovely nameless little hill
on a sea of mist
–Basho
Spring in Oaxaca brings high temperatures, dry hazy skies, the shrill sound of cicadas, and ethereal beauty of these flowers. Whether you call them by their common name, Night Blooming Cereus, or call them by their scientific name, Epiphyllum hookeri, upon waking, their twelve hours of temporal exquisiteness is a spring morning marvel.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Creativity, Culture, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged coronavirus humor, COVID-19 humor, devil mask, garden decor, mascaras, masks, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, terrace garden, wood carving on April 3, 2020| 8 Comments »
My mask is hanging by the front door, ready to be called into service when I have to run those unavoidable errands.
If nothing else, I’m hoping it will scare folks into realizing that I’m serious about physical distancing!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged agaveterrace, cactus, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, trees rainbow on January 23, 2020| 4 Comments »
I subscribe to the bumper-sticker wisdom seen many years ago, “When you live in your heart, you are always home.” However…
I’m still in el norte — but dreaming of the view from Casita Colibrí.
Posted in Agriculture, Creativity, Culture, Flora, Gardens, tagged cactus, gardens, metates, Mexico, molcajetes, Oaxaca, photos, ponds, recycled objects, succulents, Vives Verde on September 12, 2019| 4 Comments »
Who knew that there was an amazing garden, built on a former garbage dump, and open to the public in Xoxocotlán? Not me, until a friend mentioned it and invited me on a field trip to visit.
Thus, a few days ago, I found myself at Vives Verdes — a delightful labor of love — a marriage of plants, recycling, art, education, and the environment.
Nine years ago architect, Francisco Martínez began a project of landscaping a healing, artistic, and environmental garden — not only utilizing plants, but also converting found objects into planters and whimsical art.
Vives Verdes incorporates more than 200 species and 2000 plants — mostly from Oaxaca, but also from other arid climates throughout the world.
A water catchment system utilizing paths, beds, and ponds irrigate the garden and no chemicals are used.
Vives Verde is open to the public and school groups. It is located in the Las Culturas neighborhood of Santa Cruz Xoxocotlán, Oaxaca.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged Black and white photography, Casita Colibrí, container plant, Crown of Thorns, Euphorbia milii, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, succulents on May 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »
Stepping outside my front door, sometimes the play of light and shadow in Oaxaca takes my breath away.
Crown of thorns (aka, Corona de Cristo, Euphorbia milii) taken November 2018.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Cabellos de Ángel, Epiphyllum hookeri, flowers, garden, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photos, pistachio, popular travel destinations, Pseudobombax ellipticum, Shaving Brush Tree, Spring, trees on May 4, 2019| 4 Comments »
The thermometer hovers in the low 90’s (F), a very occasional late afternoon thunderstorm clears the air and cleans the sidewalks, and the high-pitched song of the cicadas (aka, cigarras and chicharras) add to Oaxaca’s soundtrack.
In addition, “shaving brushes” are seen springing from the branches of the Pseudobombax ellipticum trees — commonly known here as Cabellos de Ángel (angel hair).
In my garden, the night blooming cereus (Epiphyllum hookeri) have been greeting me early in the morning.
And, my pistachio tree, which the leaf cutter ants stripped of all its leaves eight months ago, has rebounded and produced its first nut. Such is spring in Oaxaca!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Cee's Flower of the Day, Flor de mayo, flowers, FOTD, frangipani, gardens, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, plumeria, popular travel destinations on April 6, 2019| 2 Comments »
Tonight, the clocks in most of Mexico spring ahead.
However, the flowers are on their own time and the Flor de Mayo (aka, Plumeria, Frangipani) have already begun to bloom.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, Weather, tagged bougainvillea, flowers, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, popular travel destinations, rain storms on March 23, 2019| 2 Comments »
After a few nights of a drop or two, we had an real rainstorm last night.
The sound of rain lulled me to sleep last night.
This morning I awoke to clear a clear sky and a glistening garden.
While no one believes this is the start of the rainy season, it is much welcome evidence that Cocijo hasn’t forsaken the valley of Oaxaca.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged garden, loveseat, Mexico, Oaxaca, outdoor furniture, photos, rooftop, shadows, terrace on March 17, 2019| 6 Comments »
Warm weather, clear skies, and shadows on the rooftop…
Ahhh… evening terrace tranquility.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Bottle Brush tree, Callistemon, Christmas season, garden, Mexico, Noche Buena, Nochebuena, Oaxaca, photos, red flowering plants, terrace garden, trees on December 20, 2018| 2 Comments »
Yes, I know, the Poinsettia is the unofficial red flowering plant of the Christmas season — in Mexico, it even shares the name for Christmas Eve, Nochebuena. However, there is another red flowering plant that provides holiday color this time of year, the Bottle Brush tree (genus, Callistemon).
On the rooftop, my container-planted Bottle Brush tree.
Any way you look at it, it brightens the day and brings a bit of Christmas cheer to the garden.
Bottle Brush, the other red of Christmas!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Casita Colibrí, Crown of Thorns, flowers, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, roses on November 11, 2018| 6 Comments »
Day three of cut roses from the Mercado de Abastos. Gracias a Kalisa!
Crown of Thorns… new addition to the rooftop garden from the weekly Sunday plant sale in the Jardín Morelos.
Winter may be coming, but there are always flowers blooming in Oaxaca.
Posted in Agriculture, Casita Colibrí, Creativity, Flora, Gardens, Textiles, Travel & Tourism, tagged algodón, Casita Colibrí, cotton, cotton bolls, coyuche, flowers, garden, Katyi Ya'a, photos, plants, textile traditions, textiles on October 19, 2018| 8 Comments »
Not all cotton bolls are white…
Roberta French, who built my apartment complex in Oaxaca many decades ago, established a textile weaving business and planted coyuche (koyuchi), a natural brown cotton. She is no longer with us, but her plant survives and grows up onto my balcony. This time of year, the yellow, pink, and rose flowers bloom, die, form pods, and brown cotton fluff results.
And the results? Here, at my apartment complex, the plant is solely decorative. However, the traditional way of growing, spinning, and weaving brown cotton is still practiced in some communities in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. And, I have been lucky enough to have been gifted an old huipil woven of coyuche and acquired a new one at an expo-venta here in Oaxaca city. If you would like more information on coyuche and its cultivation and weaving, I recommend checking out the Katyi Ya’a collective.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged flowers, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos, plants, Stephanotis floribunda, terrace garden, vines on October 13, 2018| 2 Comments »
The late rainy season continues, but my garden brings sunshine to a cloudy day.
8:00 AM
5:40 PM
The Stephanotis floribunda reaches for the sky and brings the light.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged cactus, Cleistocactus, flowers, gardens, Mexico, Oaxaca, photos on October 9, 2018| 13 Comments »
Yesterday morning…
Cleistocactus
There are days when light and shadows paint the garden and I sigh at Mother Nature’s artistry.
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